Phoenix Community Coffeehttp://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com
Transforming lives through the sale of excellent coffee.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:13:29 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1You Can Partner with Phoenixhttp://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/you-can-partner-with-phoenix/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/you-can-partner-with-phoenix/#commentsFri, 10 Jan 2014 06:03:53 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=569I was listening to a local Christian radio station a few weeks ago talk about their immediate financial needs. Their facilities needed some emergency repairs and the money just wasn’t there for the repairs plus monthly bills and salaries. As the DJ continued to share, he reminded the listeners of the different ways this radio station helps share the life changing message of Jesus Christ. They were listener supported and needed their listeners to help. As I continued to drive down the road listening I realized Phoenix Coffee could help and was helping. See this radio station had set up a greatcoffeegreatcause.com partner page the month before and had shared this opportunity with their listeners. Not only had they told their listeners about how drinking Phoenix Coffee could help fund the station but placed a highly visible slide on their web site that directed people who clicked on it to their partner page at greatcoffeegreatcause.com. Once they arrived at their partner page individuals could order coffee that would help the radio station financially. $3 of every bag sold would go to the station and help keep them on the air fulfilling their mission of bringing hope and encouragement through Christian music and teaching. I found myself talking out loud in my car to the radio saying “I have a $300 check coming your way next week.” It was exciting to know that I was about to write a check that was desperately needed all because some people decided to drink great coffee while supporting a radio station who took the time to partner with Phoenix Coffee.

By the way, several days later I wrote the station their check and they reached their financial goal so they can continue doing what they are passionate about.

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http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/through-death-comes-life/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 06:45:14 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=481We have a saying, “To be a part of Phoenix Community Coffee Company – it will cost you something.” There is another saying, “there are only two things for sure in this life – death and taxes.” I have not found many who look forward to either death or taxes. There are quite a few people who look forward to a really good cup of coffee. Our coffee has had its’ costs.

A truth that we have discovered is that though death, life comes. A seed must “die” in the ground to bring new life. Because of the death of the seed, the new plant provides much fruit for us to enjoy. What is interesting for many aspects of life, something has to die to bring life. Death can be very painful and costly. One has to look hard to find the good in it.

Our very beginning and existence as Phoenix Community Coffee came through several years of dreaming and hard work. Our beginning also took death. To say that we had very little in the beginning would be an understatement. We had no finances. We had no facility. We had no roaster. We only had faith, dreams and a hard work ethic.

Through dreaming, hard work, and death, God provided “new life” for a coffee company to begin. Through the death of a business came our facility in which we roast. Through the death of a friend came the finances that we used to begin our business. Through the death of a father came the roaster that we use to roast. (More detail blogs will follow to fill in the details on each of these occurrences.) Suffice to say, the beginning of Phoenix Community Coffee was not easy. Nothing worthwhile usually is! So as you drink a great cup of Phoenix Community Coffee reflect on some of what it has cost. We can all say that it has been worth it!

]]>http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/through-death-comes-life/feed/0Growing with the Best!http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/growing-with-the-best/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/growing-with-the-best/#commentsFri, 06 Dec 2013 06:00:28 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=493During this summer I was able to go to our coffee farm in Panama. We were there to meet the Caballero family and help build housing for the indigenous workers that live on the farm. These great people help with the everyday upkeep of the coffee and produce that is grown on the farm. The Caballero family is passionate about giving relief to those less fortunate in their region. It was awesome to see the homes the indigenous were moving into, instead of the bamboo shacks where they previously resided. The homes are going to have indoor plumbing and electricity. It was so great to be a part of the effort to serve these wonderful people.

While there, we got to see why our coffee is some of the best coffee in the world and participated in the planting of 1000 new coffee trees. The family even let us name the new field. It was coined with “The Phoenix Field”. Wow, what an experience. The work that just goes into planting is overwhelming. Up and down the side of steep hills. The workers there ran circles around us. We were exhausted, and gained a great appreciation for the great cup of coffee that we get to drink here morning after morning. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do and thank you for your helping us bring relief to those and other by just drinking the best coffee.

Two of the days that I was in Panama, I got the awesome privilege to go and learn more about roasting from one of the top roasters in Central America, Javier Pitti. Javier has roasted for the Emperor of Japan and has just recently won an international roasting competition, besting one of the top American roasters. This guy knows his stuff. I spent most of the first day just learning more about coffee and the processes that they use to dry the coffee. We also talked about the bean and what happens during roasting. Mind blowing! I never thought that I would ever know what I do about coffee. We roasted on a table top roaster and prepared several different types of coffee for cupping. Cupping is the process that allows the professionals to smell, taste, and grade the coffee. I never knew that so much went into getting my morning cup of coffee… at least the quality of coffee that makes up Phoenix Community Coffee offerings.

Later that evening we went to Javier’s home and roasted coffee on the roaster that he built himself in his back yard using car parts and sheet metal. The man is a genius. Everything that we know here at Phoenix Community Coffee about roasting, we learned from Javier. Javier believes in what we are doing to help reach out to our community and has given about a week of his valuable time to us for free. We have become good friends and continue to work together to bring you the best cup of coffee, one roast at a time.

]]>http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/roasting-with-the-best/feed/0Great Coffee Builds Bridgeshttp://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/great-coffee-builds-bridges/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/great-coffee-builds-bridges/#commentsFri, 29 Nov 2013 06:00:54 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=469In early October 2005 a Tropical depression was given the name Stan. While
Stan never crept beyond a Category 1 hurricane, the rain it brought to
Guatemala was devastating beyond belief. By October 11, 2005 at least
1,500 people were conﬁrmed to have died, and up to 3,000 were believed
missing. Many communities were overwhelmed, and the worst single incident
appears to have occurred in Panabaj, an impoverished Maya village in the
highlands near Lake Atitlán in Sololá department. This volcanic lake was so
overwhelmed by the torrential rains that many of the small, Mayan villages
covering the shores experienced landslides from above. Some of the towns
were so overwhelmed by the slides that the mayor has declared them
graveyards, and all people who are missing are counted as dead.

Just over the volcanos heading toward the Paciﬁc Ocean another
village experienced great loss. The main bridge that carried cars
from the small village of San Juan Moca to and from civilization
was carried away by the torrential rains. With the destruction of
the bridge all hopes of advancement in education and occupation
were lost. In the years that have followed the people of San Juan
Moca have regressed as they have become more and more
isolated.

When we began discovering coﬀee farmers in Central America
who were actively serving the people of their country by bringing
them relief, we were introduced to Irving Navichoc of the Lake
Atitlan region of Guatemala. After spending time with Irving and
his father Pedro we began to understand their heart for bringing
relief to the poorest and most desperate of Guatemala. They
speciﬁcally identiﬁed San Juan Moca as a place they wanted to
invest their time, love, and resources. Over the last two years we
have taken teams into San Juan Moca on several occasions
teaching english to the children and helping build houses for
widows and their children.

One of our core values at The Phoenix Community Coﬀee
Company is to create value in the people with whom we come in contact. For us that means we
have to consider the impact of “doing good” in the countries we do business. It is not unusual for
Americans teams to go into emerging countries with good intentions, but leave the people they
came to serve in worse condition than when they arrived. One way this happens is when this good
intention only brings charity. As team after team and group after group show up and give people
stuﬀ at no cost or investment to them, they begin to slowly lose dignity as they begin to see others
charity as long term income. Recognizing this, we have committed to
Irving and Pedro to bring work rather than charity. We have made the
admission that we really don’t have the skilled labor force to be
quality contractors, and even if we do have someone with us with this
ability there are people in the village that can and will do this work
with us for a fair days wage.

Phoenix Community Coﬀee along with the vision and love of the
Navichoc’s now employ 12 people of San Juan Moca every time we
take a team in. This is no insigniﬁcant employment either. By helping
build a house and by teaching children english we are able to pay
these women and men 1/10 of their annual salary for one week’s work! Work creates margin for
people to share generously which fuels a cycle of relief allowing others to do the same. We know
this is building a bridge for dignity as people begin to take ownership of their town, their widows,
and their children. To think this global cycle of relief started with drinking great coffee!

]]>http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/great-coffee-builds-bridges/feed/0What Comes Around Goes Aroundhttp://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/what-comes-around-goes-around/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/what-comes-around-goes-around/#commentsTue, 26 Nov 2013 06:00:59 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=475I had never ﬂown on an airplane that I could remember when I boarded the Delta ﬂight to Panama City, Panama in February of 1991. The purpose of the visit was to work with a mission team to help the indigenous of El Francis build their church building. As we taxied to the runway I was getting pretty nervous, but I was somewhat comforted when I found out the man sitting next to me was a 25 year employee of Delta Airlines. I ask him something about the safety of the plane we were on, and his answer to me was, “You don’t have to worry about the flight. It’s the safest way to travel on earth.”

This really helped me feel better as our giant metal airship began roaring down the runway. That is until he followed up with, “Where you need to worry is on take oﬀ and landing!” He went on to say, “Ninety percent of all airplane crashes happen in the ﬁrst 60 seconds of take oﬀ!” Then, and I am not stretching the truth even a little, he grabbed both armrests, thrust his head back, and started counting out loud, “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR…” I almost peed myself!

Fast forward 21 years as Greg Sweatt (Phoenix Community Coﬀee Founding Partner) and I were being escorted by Lorenzo and Elias Caballero to tour their coﬀee farms in Boquete, Panama. As we drove north on the Panamerican Highway from David (pronounced Dah-Veeed) things started looking vaguely familiar. That’s when we saw the little white church I helped build 21 years prior. Since I was on the crew that helped lay the foundation you could see my shock that the building was still standing! Seriously, I was thrilled as I recalled all the people that helped us work the indigenous volcanic soil to get the foundation level and complete.

When I left El Francis and the Rose of Sharon Baptist Church all those years ago, it did not occur to me that God might have been planting a seed in me that would come to harvest almost half of a life-time later. Funny (and when I say “funny” I actually mean “unbelievable!”) that I am so short sighted about the things that truly matter in this life. Most of us can remember our parents or grandparents throwing cliches around like, “Good things come to those who wait,” or “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” These cliches came to be because they were timeless truths which were passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately timeless truths seem to lose their power the more we say them.

I wonder if this is why timeless truths like “The Fruit of the Spirit are love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” (Galatians 5:22-23) are taken for granted by me and maybe by you too. You see, the fruit of the Spirit, like actual fruit take time to grow. In addition it takes attention and participation on our part. Granted, only God can make the sun shine and the rain fall, but we should be actively tilling the ground, planting the seed, weeding the garden and fertilizing the plants as they grow. So if it seems that God is waiting to give you His blessing it might be because the fruit is not yet ripe and would cause you to pucker if you tried to eat it now. So wait.

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http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/too-good-can-be-true/#commentsMon, 28 Oct 2013 23:47:48 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=486Is it too good to be true? Seeing is believing!

I can tell you how great the Caballeros are at growing top 1% coffee, but you can taste that for yourself! I can tell you about their wonderful farm and how meticulously that they care for it, but you can see that in the pictures of the farm. I can tell you about the great things they are doing in their community, country and around the world, but you can see the videos for yourself. I can tell you how great they are as a family, but this, you have to see for yourself!

As I take groups to meet our coffee growers in Panama – the Caballero family, I tell them, “Watch the family.” I have spent several weeks with the family. I can honestly say that I have never met anyone like them before. They treat each other with such respect and dignity. As I have watched them, I have seen patience, kindness and understanding personified. I have seen them care for the indigenous families unlike anyone else. The family meets practical needs by helping to feed, clothe and provide homes for their neighbors. They continually look to do good for others by meeting needs.

They have challenged me personally like no other. I have watched as they sing, laugh and have fun together. I have watched them meet together and plan to do good for others. I have watched them work together. One thing though that I have never seen them do – mistreat one another. I have never seen them mistreat anyone. To say they are a remarkable family… well you will just have to come with us to the farm and meet them for yourself. Then, after you have “watched the family,” you will agree with me – they are too good to be true!

]]>http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/too-good-can-be-true/feed/0Consumption on the Rise!http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/consumption-on-the-rise/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/consumption-on-the-rise/#commentsFri, 01 Feb 2013 20:46:04 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=397Coffee consumption is on the rise. According to a National Coffee Association study conducted in 2011, coffee consumption is up 9% from 2010 among 18-24 year olds and 10% among adults age 25-39 year olds. The increases place coffee consumption in these two demographics between 40-55%. That’s correct, over half of adults between 18-39 are drinking coffee every single day!

Now that’s a whole lot of coffee.

]]>http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/consumption-on-the-rise/feed/0It’s more than great coffee.http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/its-more-than-great-coffee/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/its-more-than-great-coffee/#commentsTue, 01 Jan 2013 20:27:31 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=382The goal of Phoenix Community Coffee is to create economic relief which promotes life transformation through the sale of excellent, mission directed coffee. It’s purchased from relief focused farms, roasted to generate local community support, and sold to make a difference domestically and around the world. That may seem like a mouth full but simply put, it is the Cycle of Relief.

At its core, the Cycle of Relief is three parts: the berry, the bean, and the bag. Each part is integral to who we are at Phoenix Community Coffee.

]]>http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/its-more-than-great-coffee/feed/0Abundant Life Coffeehttp://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/abundant-life-coffee-group/
http://new.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/abundant-life-coffee-group/#commentsThu, 28 Jun 2012 20:52:45 +0000http://www.phoenixcommunitycoffee.com/new/?p=403We are really excited about the 41,800lbs of coffee that has arrived from Honduras. Through our partnership with Abundant Life Coffee Group, we now have the potential to generate over $160,000 in economic relief. ALCG has been working with the Lanca people group in Honduras to help them plant their own farms and create a sustainable revenue source for their families.

Greg Hines, the founder of ALCG, shared that the most exciting cooperative they are forming involves 16 single mothers, modern day widows and orphans. A modern day widow and orphan refers to women and children whose husbands and fathers have abandoned the family and refuse to provide care and support. What a beautiful picture of redemption, that by being educated about how to grow their own coffee these mothers can now provide for themselves and be released from the bondage of plantation owners.

Now, Phoenix Community Coffee will be able to purchase green coffee from single mothers, roast the coffee as a means of supporting single mothers in their community, and sell that same coffee to generate sustainable income for organizations like StreetGRACE who are fighting to end exploitation and injustice.